Harry Banner turned up in London one November evening. He had just got back from Venezuela and he wanted to see Robert Cade. He'd known Cade six years earlier in Buenos Aires and now Banner wanted a small favour, just to keep a parcel until he called back for it. The trouble was that Banner never did call back, because the next morning he was found dead in his hotel room with a stab wound to the chest. Other people came looking for the parcel at his flat, but by that time Cade had decided a trip to Venezuela might throw some light on the reasons for Harry's murder. However, in San Borja, the climate could be very unhealthy for someone who went round asking too many questions.